No one like Jesus pt. 1
Notes
Transcript
Handout
Intro:
The book of Hebrews is a writing in a great time of trial for Christians. You see many Jewish believers stepped out of Judaism into Christianity, but in the midst of persecution could backslide back into Judaism to escape persecution. The author of Hebrews is encouraging them to press on with the faith and to grow mature in their Christianity.
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are My Son; today I have become Your Father, or again, I will be His Father, and He will be My Son? 6 When He again brings His firstborn into the world, He says, And all God’s angels must worship Him. 7 And about the angels He says: He makes His angels winds, and His servants a fiery flame, 8 but to the Son: Your throne, God, is forever and ever, and the scepter of Your kingdom is a scepter of justice. 9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness; this is why God, Your God, has anointed You with the oil of joy rather than Your companions. 10 And: In the beginning, Lord, You established the earth, and the heavens are the works of Your hands; 11 they will perish, but You remain. They will all wear out like clothing; 12 You will roll them up like a cloak, and they will be changed like a robe. But You are the same, and Your years will never end. 13 Now to which of the angels has He ever said: Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies Your footstool? 14 Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve those who are going to inherit salvation?
1. Jesus is God
I want to make it clear as I can, that Jesus is God, He is a part of the trinity. But the trinity wasn’t a duo before Jesus came along, no Jesus was and is always a part of the Truine God.
3 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.
John 1:1 “1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John Opens His Gospel with this powerful statement. The Word was in the beginning, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word is Jesus, He has been, is, and always will be a part of God. The deity of Jesus is essential to our faith.
Now just a little further down in
John 1:14 “14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”
This is the doctrine of the Incarnation. That God became flesh, He became a man in the form of Jesus Christ the son and second person of the trinity.
Now Hebrews 1:3 says the Son is the radiance of God’s glory. What that means is Jesus is an exact representation or character of God. In Greek literature when they would use this phrase found in verse 3 “the exact representation” what they would mean is it’s like stamping a coin from the die. that imprint is an exact representation of the stamp. They are Saying Jesus is an exact representation of God Himself.
He doesn’t reflect the light of God, He is the light of God.
Friends, there is no one like Him, all others are counterfeit Gods. Yes I’m talking about Allah, or the Hindu deities, the New Age movements claim that humans are divine, um we’re not, I stopped getting up in the morning and looking in the mirror years ago because guess what, it’s a reminder i’m not divine.
it’s not the Buddhists search for “enlightenment” and so forth.
They are all counterfeit. There is no one like Jesus
So listen, if there is no one like Jesus, because He is God, and He says I am the way the truth and the life, no one gets to the father accept through me, then He’s making it clear. All other religious search for that spiritual eternity will not get you there, only Jesus will, only Jesus.
All these other religions have some kind of view of eternity and the pursuit of it, Norse mythology called it Valhalla, but it’s this pursuit of something eternal, full of peace, no pain, pleasure, and so on.
What Jesus is saying is no other efforts without Christ will get you there. Being good enough won’t ever be enough, you need Jesus, He’s essential.
Illustration:
When I was a kid I made chocolate chip cookies, my favorite, on my own once. I forgot the egg, ugh, I was so disappointing and couldn’t understand why they were crumbling apart, the texture wasn’t right, the cookie just couldn’t hold together.
Listen to me friends, it’s ok to be disappointed that a cookie recipe crumbles because I forgot an egg, it won’t be ok at the end of my life to realize that my pursuit of counterfeit Gods leave my eternity crumbling. Jesus is essential.
Don’t forget Him in your pursuit of eternity.
2. Jesus deserves our worship
5 For to which of the angels did He ever say, You are My Son; today I have become Your Father, or again, I will be His Father, and He will be My Son? 6 When He again brings His firstborn into the world, He says, And all God’s angels must worship Him.
Jesus is so superior to all, that even the created messengers and servants of God are to worship Jesus. My friends, if the Angels must worship Christ, then indeed He deserves my worship.
Worship- Praise, Adoration and Reverence of God both in public and in private
It is an action to be done, not merely a momentary thought, or Sunday morning check in the box.
Worship is a movement of the whole body my friends to actively engage in. It means that above all else in our lives, if Jesus deserves our worship, then He must be #1 on our to do list every day. Not because we have to but because we get to.
Lexham Theological Wordbook (Theological Overview)
3:1–5). Worship encompassed the entirety of one’s life lived in obedience to God (Rom 12:1–2). Every act of obedience to Christ, no matter how mundane, when done to his glory, is an act of worship (e.g., Col 3:17).
17 And whatever you do, in word or in deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.
Why is this important?
because no one but God could save us from ourselves. God is perfect and Holy and promises to Judge Sin, and guess what, we have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God. Yet, because God is perfect and keeps His Word, He has punished sin. His Wrath poured out on the Cross, Jesus bore the punishment meant and deserved for me. God took what I deserve, and paid the ultimate price, only God could do that, that’s why recognizing there is no one like Jesus, no one above Him is so important today.
So let us be confident in our minds on who Jesus is, and why He is essential to our faith, and our future.